Charcuterie_ The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing - Michael Ruhlman [58]
DUCK, SAGE AND ROASTED GARLIC SAUSAGE
This is a main-course sausage. If you’re going to go to the effort and expense of using duck to create a truly unusual and exquisite sausage, it should be the centerpiece of the meal. Actually, this recipe is really no more difficult than any other fresh sausage (and easier if you ask your butcher to bone the ducks for you, saving all the skin and bones and fat for other uses), but when you serve it to guests, it makes them feel special because it’s rare sausage.
31⁄2 pounds/1.5 kilograms raw duck meat (preferably from the legs and thighs), trimmed of all fat, sinew, and skin and diced, 8 to 10 Pekin legs and thighs
11⁄2 pounds/675 grams pork back fat, diced
11⁄2 ounces/40 grams kosher salt (3 tablespoons)
1⁄2 cup/64 grams finely chopped fresh sage
3 tablespoons/60 grams Roasted Garlic Paste (recipe follows)
11⁄2 tablespoons/15 grams coarsely ground black pepper
1⁄2 cup/125 milliliters ice water
1⁄2 cup/125 milliliters dry red wine, chilled
10 feet/3 meters hog casings, soaked in tepid water for at least 30 minutes and rinsed
1. Combine all the ingredients except the water and wine and toss to distribute the seasonings. Chill until ready to grind.
2. Grind the mixture through the small die into a bowl set in ice (see Note below).
3. Add the water and wine to the meat mixture and mix with the paddle attachment (or sturdy spoon) until the liquids are incorporated and the mixture has developed a uniform, sticky appearance, about 1 minute on medium speed.
4. Sauté a small portion of the sausage, taste, and adjust the seasoning if necessary.
5. Stuff the sausage into the hog casings and twist into 6-inch/15-centimeter links. Refrigerate or freeze until ready to cook.
6. Gently sauté or roast the sausage to an internal temperature of 150 degrees F./65 degrees C.
Yield: About 5 pounds/2.25 kilograms sausage; about twenty 6-inch/15-centimeter links
[ NOTE: See pages 107–116 for a detailed description of the basic grinding, mixing, stuffing, and cooking techniques. ]
Steam-Roasted Garlic Paste
Roasted garlic is a fantastic all-purpose seasoning for sausages, sauces, soups, and potatoes and other starches—it’s hard to think of much that wouldn’t be improved with some roasted garlic. Steam-roasting the garlic avoids the deeper, sometimes harsh, flavors that can develop when garlic is simply roasted in foil. Garlic prepared this way is both paler and sweeter than garlic roasted at higher temperatures.
The roasted garlic will mash easily, but it’s a good idea to press it through a sieve to remove any remaining pieces of skin.
6 whole heads garlic
1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F./160 degrees C.
2. Place the garlic root side down in a baking pan just large enough to hold it. Add water to come to a depth of 1⁄4 inch/0.5 centimeter and cover with foil. Bake until the garlic is completely soft, about 1 hour. Let cool.
3. Cut heads of garlic horizontally in half and squeeze the soft pulp into a sieve set over a bowl. Push the garlic through the sieve with a rubber spatula. Store in the refrigerator, covered, for up to a week.
Yield: About 3⁄4 cup/185 milliliters
MEXICAN CHORIZO
I find this to be among the most exotic tasting of these sausages because of the sweet ancho powder and the hot, smoky chipotle powder, offset by the fresh oregano and garlic. Although this can be stuffed into casings, Mexican chorizo, unlike Spanish chorizo, is generally a free-form sausage used as a component in other dishes, rather than eaten by itself like a breakfast patty. It’s excellent with scrambled eggs (cook the sausage first, then add the eggs, or cook the eggs separately and add the cooked sausage and juices to them). It’s delicious in a corn tortilla; stuffed into a poblano pepper and roasted, or stuffed into a roasted poblano, battered, and deep-fried; sautéed with black beans and red onion; or added to corn bread or polenta.
5 pounds/2.25 kilograms boneless pork shoulder butt, diced
11⁄2 ounces/40 grams kosher salt (3 tablespoons)